A smile curved the cynical mouth. ‘I was wondering how far I’d get before you realised and slapped my face.’
Lucy smiled at him through her lashes. ‘That kiss was so fantastic, Randal. I hated you for days because I knew I wanted you to do it again and I hated myself for that.’
‘I could tell,’ he said softly. ‘It was mutual, and your innocence was the only barrier between us. I was drowning in excitement when I kissed you that first time—and then you turned into the wildcat. I was almost completely hooked when you ran out, spitting. The next time I saw you, I was even more excited. By the third time I saw you...’ He paused, staring down at her, then drawled wryly, ‘I was heavily in love.’
She tensed, eyes wary. ‘Randal—are you telling me the truth? I couldn’t bear it if this were just another hurtful game...’
‘My darling,’ he said softly, ‘I was obsessed with you by the third time I saw you. I can remember saying all those things to you, about how I’d get you in the end, how I wouldn’t stop until I had you, and I suddenly realised as I drove away that I meant them. I meant every damned syllable. I pulled up outside the casino and got out of the car, feeling alarmed by how much I meant what I’d said. Then it hit me, as I was walking up the steps. I was in love with you.’
‘I can’t believe it...’ she whispered, afraid to hope.
‘I stopped on the steps for a long time,’ he said deeply. ‘I saw my name above the door in blue neon, and I thought: Lucy Marlborough. Then I saw us living at Mallory, our children playing on the lawn, and I thought: this is it. She’s the one.’
Belief rushed in on her and she felt tears of love blur her vision. ‘Darling...’
He kissed her deeply, and the love exchanged in their kiss was more powerfully moving and exciting than any sensation she had experienced in her life.
He broke away from her, his mouth close to hers. ‘You’d told me you had a boyfriend, and I should have been put off. But being an arrogant swine, I convinced myself you didn’t really care about him. I was certain I could break whatever hold he had on you. It was obvious he hadn’t made love to you, or proposed marriage—therefore you were free to leave him when I succeeded in making you fall in love with me.’
Her mouth curved in a breathless smile. ‘Such arrogance...’
‘I know, I know,’ he drawled, laughing wryly. ‘And I got my come-uppance when I realised you were the serious one in that partnership. I only had to take one look at Blair to see he was a liar and a cheat. But you were blind to him. I knew he was holding you back from adult life and I hated him for that, because I could see you were different whenever he was around. He was stifling your natural personality—all the things I loved about you. Your vibrancy, your temper, your intelligence and your sexuality.’
‘I was used to loving him,’ she confessed. ‘It was just habit.’
‘I realised that, too,’ he said soberly, his face paling. ‘The fight I was going into was against your childhood illusions, my darling, and that was a tougher adversary than any man. I knew I had to break his magic spell by fair means or foul. I chose foul. Your sensuality was awakened by me. You hated me for it, but you never let me down when I launched a seduction on you. I decided sex was my most powerful weapon, so I aimed it at you ruthlessly. It was that which always provoked you into showing your true nature, and I hit you with it mercilessly, knowing it would eventually make you break out of your chrysalis and show yourself.’
Tears stung her eyes. ‘My darling, I owe you so much...’
He kissed her, eyes wickedly amused. ‘Oh, I enjoyed myself doing it, darling. I loved making you fly at me in a rage that turned so quickly into frenzied desire.’ He laughed softly. ‘Especially on the bed at my house in Newmarket! My God, that was exactly what I’d taken you there to provoke and I was reeling with excitement when we left. I knew I was on the right track, then. I knew I was winning the battle.’
‘Is that when you decided on marriage?’ she asked, eyes wary.
‘I’d decided on marriage before that,’ he assured her, smiling lazily. ‘But your response to my lovemaking that day told me you were definitely ready to fall in love with me, too. I decided to take a gamble, push it all to a confrontation point, and force you into marriage immediately.’
‘I’m so glad you did,’ she said huskily, touching his strong, scarred face.
‘So am I,’ he said softly. ‘I also believed it would flush Blair out into the open for the skunk he was. If your father had just crashed, Blair would probably have been more careful about revealing his ill-gotten gains. But with you married to a very rich man, and your father securely in a good job—he felt safe.’
Her eyes darkened. ‘Is that the only reason you got my father that position?’
‘Don’t be silly, darling,’ he said gently. ‘I’m fond of your father. He’s been a fool, but largely because he’s had such a boring life. Many people without a sense of purpose or a job to do fall by the wayside. The fact that your father fell by spending vast sums of money on nothing is irrelevant. I think he was just bored to death. Now that he’s got an exciting job and a new life he’s shed twenty years and started to stand up straight.’
‘He’s so happy,’ she agreed, eyes shining. ‘I can’t thank you enough for finding that job for him. And for revealing Edward’s true character to me.’
He studied her frowningly. ‘Did you really never suspect him?
She hesitated, then said, ‘I began to question him within days of meeting you. I knew your presence in my life was the catalyst. I hated you for making me question Edward. But the more you provoked me into losing my temper, the more I questioned him.’
‘You’d trusted him all your life,’ he said, touching her cheek. ‘If anything, you were taught to trust him.’
‘Yes,’ she said at once. ‘That’s it. I was taught to trust him, and I felt guilty every time I started to question that trust. By the time you told me, at the wedding, what Edward was really doing, I was ready to believe you.’
‘And did you?’ he asked, eyes probing her face.
‘Yes, but I couldn’t face it then,’ she said with a deep sigh. ‘It wasn’t until you made love to me, and I realised I was in love with you, that I was able to stand back and see Edward for who he really was.’
‘And that was on our wedding night?’ he said, bending his dark head to kiss her mouth. ‘My darling, if only I’d known...’
‘It was like the way you fell in love with me,’ she confessed huskily. ‘I began to realise something powerful was happening after you’d made love to me. But it wasn’t until we were at the Colosseum that day that the full impact hit me.’
‘I knew it!’ he said at once, eyes gleaming. ‘I knew something important had happened then!’
She smiled, her face flushing as she murmured, ‘I was in too deep by then to lie to myself any longer. I felt struck by lightning that day. Everything turned around and I knew I was deeply in love with you.’
He kissed her mouth lingeringly. ‘Just as I stopped on the steps...’
‘Just the same,’ she whispered, and their mouths met in a long kiss that began with slow, sensual love, then fired into a blazing passion that left them both gasping for breath.
‘Oh, God,’ he said hoarsely. ‘I love you...my darling...’
‘Randal!’ Her fingers pushed into his black hair, her lips raised hungrily to his. ‘I love you...make love to me!’
With a rough sound, he claimed her mouth again and the kiss seemed to go on and on as they clung together, swaying, as though they could not get enough of each other.
Suddenly, he lifted her in his arms and carried her to the bed. His face was darkly flushed as he lowered her to the centre, sliding on top of her, a blaze of need in his eyes.
‘Wait!’ She put her hands to his broad shoulders, gasping, ‘What about Apollonia?’
He stared, dazed, breathing thickly. ‘Apollonia...?’
‘What did she mean to you, Randal?’ s
he asked hoarsely. ‘Was she your mistress? Did you love her?’
He drew a breath. ‘Apollonia was never my mistress. We met two years ago when I was on business in Rome. I flirted with her because I had nothing better to do. But I wasn’t seriously interested. She was always too obvious to appeal to me.’
Lucy studied him through her lashes. ‘Yes, I thought she was rather blatant.’
He laughed, blue eyes gleaming wickedly. ‘So you were jealous, after all!’
‘Violently,’ she said. ‘And I still might be if you don’t tell me why she was here when you held the Mallory Ball.’
‘Someone else brought her,’ he assured her, smiling. ‘I didn’t invite her personally. That was one of the things that turned me off her. You may have noticed in Rome—she did all the chasing.’
‘And you prefer to be the hunter?’ she murmured teasingly.
‘Absolutely,’ he said under his breath. ‘What man doesn’t?’
Her heart sang and she wound her arms around his neck. ‘Darling—did you mean what you said about children? That you saw us here at Mallory, surrounded by them?’
‘Of course.’ He kissed her mouth. ‘I don’t know if it’s occurred to you, my darling, but you may already be pregnant. Would that please you?’
‘Oh, yes,’ she whispered joyfully, ‘and I hope I am. I’d love it if our first child was conceived in Rome.’
‘Born at Mallory,’ he said thickly, eyes intense. ‘My darling, you’ve made my life complete.’
‘And you’ve made me a woman,’ she said passionately.
Randal bent his head with a fierce groan of love, kissing her into oblivion. She opened her mouth to him with wild passion, and the kiss flared to fire.
Randal Marlborough was many things—arrogant, cynical, passionate, sexy, ruthless, strong, clever and loving—but most of all, he was hers. Pride soared in her heart. She could see their future together, unravelling like a rich tapestry, with children on the lawns of Mallory in bright sunlight, her father happy and secure in his work, and Randal’s wicked ancestors forming the background to their future. He was a fighter, and she was a survivor.
What a wonderful life I’ll have with him, she thought, and then her thoughts were drowned by the power of his kiss...
ISBN: 978-1-4592-8447-0
Extreme Provocation
Copyright © 1993 by Sarah Holland
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Table of Contents
TITLE PAGE
CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
COPYRIGHT
Extreme Provocation Page 16